After a long day of drills with the knights, I decided to take a quiet stroll through the bustling plaza. The cool evening air was refreshing, and the mingling scents of baked goods and roasted spices offered a comforting distraction from the unease swirling in my mind.

Yet I couldn't shake off the memory of that glowing aura I'd unleashed earlier. I'd dealt with worse, right?

But my thoughts came to a halt when I felt the faint prickle of being watched. My instincts flared. I turned sharply and caught a glimpse of familiar figures clumsily hiding behind carts and barrels. My knights.

They were not subtle. Cedric's armor gleamed conspicuously in the fading light, and I sighed in exasperation. What are they doing following me again?

Slipping into a narrow alley, I took a few quick turns to lose them. I smiled to myself, knowing they'd spend the next few minutes scrambling to figure out where I'd gone.

However, as I emerged on the other side of the alley, I froze.

There he was—Alexios. He stood with a frantic man who gestured wildly toward a nearby shop. My chest tightened. Is he following me?

I ducked behind a column, watching as the man tugged on Alexios's sleeve. "Mr. Alex, please," the man begged. "He's bleeding badly—I don't know what to do!"

"Take me to him," Alexios said calmly, retrieving a medical kit from his bag.

My suspicion began to waver, replaced by confusion. Quietly, I trailed them as they entered a dim alley behind the shop. From the shadows, I watched Alexios kneel beside the injured shopkeeper.

He treated the wound with practiced precision, murmuring words of reassurance. I exhaled shakily, remembering the steadiness of his hands from another time. He wasn't following me—he was simply helping.

Suddenly, a loud whisper behind me made me jump.

"Captain?!"

I whipped around, glaring at my knights. "What are you doing here?" I hissed.

But before I could scold them further, their attention shifted.

Cedric's expression brightened. "Doctor Alex! What are you doing here? Patchin' up another poor soul?"

Alexios turned, his gaze landing directly on me. My stomach lurched as our eyes met. He didn't look surprised—if anything, he looked like he'd expected me.

Heat rose to my cheeks; I quickly looked away. Cedric, however, pressed on, "Did you know, Captain, Doctor Alex here has helped the knights at the Imperial Palace before? He's a lifesaver."

I glared at Cedric, but the teasing only worsened as the younger knights snickered.

"Was the Captain watching the good doctor?" one of them whispered.

"Careful, Captain, or we'll have to start filing romance reports instead of combat ones," Cedric teased.

"Captain, do you and Doctor Alex know each other?" another knight chimed in, smirking.

I answered curtly, "No." Shooting them a sharp look, I said, "Let's go."

Cedric raised an eyebrow, grinning as he exchanged glances with the others. "Interesting," he murmured.

My ears were burning at their teasing. "Fall in line," I ordered, but they just laughed behind me.

"Captain, was it love at first sight?"

"Or maybe a long-lost lover?

"Quiet!" I snapped. I spun around, letting golden lightning flicker across my hand. "Do you want to file that report now?"

They stepped back in mock alarm. "Calm down, Captain!" Cedric exclaimed, laughing nervously. "No need to destroy another wall—or us! Besides, with your Imperial lineage, paying for repairs is no issue, right?"

I rolled my eyes and let the aura fade. "Just… go," I muttered, waving them off. As they retreated, I stole one last glance at Alexios. His gaze was still locked on me, and my heart thudded unexpectedly. Why does he unsettle me so much?

That night, as the knights continued teasing me at the tavern, my thoughts remained tangled around Alexios. Why did his presence feel so strangely familiar?